Welcome to this deep rest practice.
We'll begin by connecting to the body through a body scan.
We'll then enter into breath awareness without trying to change anything,
Just being witness to the body breathe.
And then we'll open up into this expansive awareness,
Allowing thoughts,
Sensations,
Emotions to arise and pass,
As we observe from the outside,
Becoming witness to our experience.
When you are ready,
Closing your eyes,
Bringing your awareness to the crown of your head,
And visualise a warm,
Soothing,
Healing balm,
Gently and slowly melting to the beginning of the crown of the head,
And allowing and inviting the soothing balm to flow to the back of your head,
Your forehead,
Your cheeks,
Your chin,
Softening all the muscles on the way,
The throat,
Neck,
Your shoulders,
Upper arms,
Elbows,
And inside the elbows,
The lower arms,
The wrists,
Top of the hands and palms of the hands,
The thumbs,
Index fingers,
Middle fingers,
Ring fingers,
And little fingers.
From the crown of the head to the fingertips,
This warm balm soothing,
Releasing tension,
Floating awareness to your torso,
The upper back,
The chest,
Middle of the back,
The ribs,
Diaphragm,
Stomach,
The lower back,
The belly,
The head,
The hips,
The buttocks,
The groin,
The thighs,
Knees,
Behind the knees,
The lower legs,
Ankles and heels,
Top of the feet and soles of the feet,
The big toes,
Second toes,
Third toes,
Fourth toes,
And the little toes.
This balm is warm,
Soothing,
Healing.
Crown of the head,
Palms of the hands,
Soles of the feet,
The whole body,
Resting in awareness,
Of the whole body.
Notice that you are breathing,
Notice the body breathing,
Perhaps there's a sensation of a gentle rise or fall in the chest or the belly,
Noticing the sensations of the full cycle of the breath from the very first moment of the inhale,
The base of the nostrils or the lips,
To the back of the throat,
The chest,
The belly,
Rising and then falling on the exhale,
Belly,
Chest,
Back of the throat,
Nostrils,
Breathing at your own pace,
Being witness to the body breathe its own natural rhythm,
Letting go of any grasping or controlling,
And if that's not available to you,
Know that that's okay too,
Noticing the breathing,
Noticing the body breathe,
There's power in that alone,
Following the cycle of your breath,
The sensations in your body breathing,
For a few more rounds of breath,
Noticing the sensations of the inhale,
Noticing the sensations of the exhale,
And noticing those meeting points,
The transition between the inhale and exhale,
The transition between the exhale and the inhale,
Being witness to the full cycle of the breath,
In this moment,
And this moment,
As you blow through the awareness of your body breathing,
Perhaps there is a single point in which you can anchor your awareness on in that journey of the breath,
Like placing a special ornament on a shelf,
A delicate ornament,
Place your focus and your full awareness on a single point on the breath,
That might be resting your awareness on the rise of your chest,
On every inhale,
That might be resting your awareness at the base of the nostrils,
Where you can feel the breath enter and release,
Perhaps the anchor for you in this practice is being witness to all the sensations of the full journey of the breath,
Being witness to the body breathe,
Softening the focus completely,
Dropping the awareness of the breath,
And entering now into this open expanse,
This open awareness,
A space where we allow thoughts,
Emotions,
Sensations to arise,
To flow,
To pass by,
Refraining from trying to grasp onto or push away anything that comes up,
Anything that arises,
Just allowing the flow to exist,
And being witness to what arises,
What passes,
Returning to the anchor in the breath as many times as you need,
Returning to the anchor in the breath can be a quiet refuge,
If this open awareness becomes challenging,
Knowing that that is okay too,
Being witness to this unfolding,
Being witness to this arising of sensations,
Emotions,
Thoughts,
Observing these from the outside looking in,
Being witness to your experience in this open expansive space,
Sensations,
Sounds,
Thoughts,
Emotions,
Arising,
And passing,
Without grasping,
Without resisting,
Witnessing the flow,
Noting if you are consumed by thoughts,
Shifting away from being pulled in,
To drifting out,
And observing what arises,
Observing what passes,
This spaciousness of open awareness can be a paradox to the groundedness of being connected to this moment,
Feeling into the body,
The heaviness of the body resting on the surface beneath you,
And being witness to the sensation of open expansion,
This grounding in stillness and this opening into being witness to the flow of life,
If there is a thought or sensation or emotion that seems unrelenting,
That continues to lure you into being with and being part of the story of that thought,
Being pulled into all the sensations of that emotion,
If you are ready to let it go,
Let it go,
Shift from being tangled within,
To being the observer,
And watching it unfold,
And pass,
Returning to the anchor in your breath at any time,
Feeling into the sensations of the body breathing,
Perhaps resting in this anchor for the remainder of the practice,
That is okay,
You don't need approval nor permission,
To connect to yourself,
To rest in the stillness of this moment,
And this moment,
Opening up to this expansive awareness and dropping the anchor,
Letting go of the anchor completely as if it doesn't exist,
And witnessing what arises,
What passes,
Witnessing the flow,
The coming and going,
Being the observer,
Returning to the felt sense of the breath,
The rhythm of your body breathing,
Following the full cycle of the breath as if you've never witnessed this before,
When you're ready,
Inviting movement to your body,
As we come to close this practice,
Opening your eyes,
Thank you for meditating with me.
